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I know VG-10 has gotten a bad rap over the years because of Shun but regardless it's time has come to pass so to speak. With newer stainless steels out now like AEB-L, Ginsan, and the numerous powdered steels, VG-10 is basically antique. There are just to many higher quality stainless steels to consider other than VG-10 now.

_________________If God wanted me to be a vegetarian he wouldn't have made animals taste so good.

SteveG

Post subject: Re: 210 Gyutos: Megumi vs. Anryu Hammered vs. Yuki

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 12:40 pm

Forum Moderator

Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 12:00 pmPosts: 4586

Jeff, I was secretly hoping the Megumi had a Ginsan or an R-2 core . That said - it's a damn nice knife. If the blacksmith proves to be proficient in his VG-10 heat treat, I'd take that over Ginsan with a poor HT.

Well, I think there is a Megumi the Platinum package going around so I'll get some first hand experience with it. And I do expect it to be a very good knife. The more knives I pick up the less emphasis I place on the specific steel. I just like a knife that has character and is fun to use!

_________________If God wanted me to be a vegetarian he wouldn't have made animals taste so good.

SteveG

Post subject: Re: 210 Gyutos: Megumi vs. Anryu Hammered vs. Yuki

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 1:35 pm

Forum Moderator

Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 12:00 pmPosts: 4586

I think you'll enjoy the Megumi - it has character and IS fun to use as well. That's a nice group that Mark's sending out . I assume the Tetsuhiro Hammered will be the 210, since that's in stock and the rest 240's. I'm looking forward to everyone's feedback.

estayton

Post subject: Re: 210 Gyutos: Megumi vs. Anryu Hammered vs. Yuki

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 1:37 pm

Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:57 pmPosts: 597

There are a whole lot of VG-10 knives out there, especially on the blingy side of the spectrum. It doesn't have the cool factor, and its commonness works against it too from the perspective of someone interested in unique knives. I have one knife in VG-10, one in 19C27, and one in unknown molybdenum steel. I would take VG-10 over an unknown moly, as I've never had huge deburring problems with mine. To my sharpening hands I find the VG-10 and 19C27 to be pretty close, and they both have decent wear resistance. I haven't yet bought something in AEB-L or Ginsan.

Jeff, do you guess it is a price thing that keeps VG-10 so popular among makers, instead of other "better" stainless steels? A matter of supply? Or manufacturers knowing how to work it and not wanting to move to an unknown?

JourneymanDoug

Post subject: Re: 210 Gyutos: Megumi vs. Anryu Hammered vs. Yuki

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 3:07 pm

Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:06 amPosts: 191

We ran the gamut on carbon steels. It was a complete mill, from scrap to finished hot rolled rod stock in coils. Stainless we ran austinitic and ferritic grades, mostly, for fastener companies, and the big 3 automakers. At that time we were one of the only companies in the world that could deliver coils of rod stock in most austenitic and ferritic grades on a super short lead time, sometimes as short as five days. Stainless is an interesting material to work with. It's properties seem to defy logic in comparison to carbon steel. Especially when you start talking about temperatures, and malleability vs. tensile strength and fragility. We tried to run titanium ONE time. Our mill was about 1/2 mile long, and the 4" x 4" x 40ft billet of titanium made it about 6 feet into the mill before it cobbled, a twisted 3" oblong cross section 25ft tall loop of nearly white hot titanium straight up in the air, which then tipped over and nearly killed an operator. Imagine a ginormous loop of 2800 degree weed wacker line that weighs in at a ton and a half coming down at you from 25 feet up! The oxygen lances we had for stainless could BARELY cut it, it took two three foot rods to get through, it melts a thousand degrees higher than 316 stainless... I guess all that stuff is part of why I work in kitchens, and on computers now... I had a lot of fun there though, and it was an awesome job when I was 19. I got promoted almost immediately after starting there, and at 19 I was already making 36,000 dollars a year. I decided to go back to college... Now as the last two years go, I'd be lucky if I came in at 36k. This year is looking better, and next year I know will be better once my business starts picking up a bit (i print custom t-shirts, featuring my own personal art, and others' artwork) I got a couple big gigs for next year, so its all smiles right now. (don't know how I got on that much of a tangent, just rode my new Specialized Sirrus Carbon 25 miles, and now I'm all jacked up I guess...) Breathe.

estayton wrote:....Jeff, do you guess it is a price thing that keeps VG-10 so popular among makers, instead of other "better" stainless steels? A matter of supply? Or manufacturers knowing how to work it and not wanting to move to an unknown?

I think it is a combination of factors. I think supply plays a part but most likely is that it's easy to use for the smith's. And in the right hands it is a good steel, the best steel the average home user would ever touch. But I'm not an expert on this, it's all assumption.

_________________If God wanted me to be a vegetarian he wouldn't have made animals taste so good.

ChipB

Post subject: Re: 210 Gyutos: Megumi vs. Anryu Hammered vs. Yuki

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:19 pm

Joined: Thu May 29, 2014 2:38 pmPosts: 1954

There's also the possible "me too" factor created by Shun. As Shun has become the de facto face of JK for many, and they shout from the rooftops that they use VG10, it could be assumed by a lot of smiths that it is a steel many are familiar with. Shun has spent a lot of time and money marketing the steel, so why not draft that momentum?

_________________Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day

Jeffuith

Post subject: Re: 210 Gyutos: Megumi vs. Anryu Hammered vs. Yuki

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:14 am

Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2013 12:15 amPosts: 91Location: San Francisco

In my mind, it's pretty hard to argue against the 'pretty' factor on a knife like this. With such a false and hard damascus as this shows. Becomes a purely personal taste matter on aesthetics...

I got this knife, then I went to the store and got a couple whole chickens and a few legs. And a bunch of basic mirepoix stuff to make a stew. This knife actually was eager to cut through chicken bone on the edge it was shipped with, I had to make sure and crack the knuckles and steer the knife. But I felt a burr raising on the back side after using it just tonight.

Instead of reaching for another knife to go through joints, I took both chickens into 8 pieces, and then went and cut up some ginger, scallion, mushrooms, more chicken thighs, and made a pretty killer udon...

I have to say, it's really nice to not have to work on cutting through chicken skin with a brand knew knife. But I don't know if chicken skin is a good test? It's pretty slimy, it skips around on your board...

To sharpen this and my old knives, I ordered a 5pc set from CKTG last week, and will be getting a magnifying glass along with the http://www.chefknivestogo.com/3pcstoneset.html and hopefully that will allow me to see where the edge is at on this Megumi BEFORE I try to strop it or sharpen it or touch it up.

I am new to this whole scene, I only started getting j knives and carbon 7 months ago (ITK kiritsuke, I thought it would be a relatively flat edge to learn to sharpen on), I was bummed to hear that this knife is VG-10 after I ordered, but I think it's going to offer me plenty of challenge to do right by.... I have some questions now that i bought the 5 piece kit, about stropping and flattening parts vs. my Norton set. But I think that belongs in another thread.

I've only had it for a day, so my menu for the week includes simmered kombucha squash, french onion soup (irrelevant for reactivity but a lot of fun for chopping onions?), udon with as many ingredients as I can throw into it, tri-tip on Saturday to test slicing vs. my other slicers, and whatever else I can figure out between now and then...

But I have to say the original write-up was SPOT ON.

The tip is just not as responsive as the 6.5" utility, as the OP said, and food is sticking a lot on the middle part of the blade. But I don't think carrots or mushrooms are a good judge for that as they're pretty short to begin with, and onions fall right off..

Anyway. Mark offered a refund based on it being VG-10 vs. carbon, but uh... yeah... nah. I think I'm gonna hold on to it for awhile.

I feel like gollum. For 264.00, this is "my preciousssssss... "

I'm definitely not sending it back to Mark, and wonder if I shoudl have held off on posting until I had a week under my belt, but like I said, Mark won't be stuck with a re-stocking fee from me.

I think it would be fun to start discussing some kind of knife-intensive recipes on the 'what's cooking' thread with the intention of getting a usable end-product without using 4,000lbs of onions to do this stuff.... But I'm still afraid to suggest simmered kombucha squash because I still need 1 knife to bust it up, and 1 knife to slice it down....

This post was probably fueled by wine. I'll try and make sure that doesn't happen again.

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